AI search optimization services come in five shapes, and the right one depends on how much of the work you can carry yourself.
I scored DIY, a freelancer, a generalist agency, a specialist AI search agency and Goldie Agency against the same five criteria.
The ratings are editorial judgement based on what Google, Microsoft, OpenAI, Perplexity and Anthropic publish, not lab tests.
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The verdict in one paragraph
A specialist that covers all five service lines beats a patchwork of cheaper help for most growing businesses.
DIY is a fair choice for a single-location business with time to learn.
A generalist agency is the weakest fit when AI visibility is the main goal, because the technical and reporting lines get skipped.
Goldie Agency rates highest here because it lists SEO, GEO, AEO and link building as core services, but no option on this page can guarantee rankings or AI citations.
How I scored the options
Each option was judged on five criteria drawn from the platforms' own documentation.
| Criterion | What earns a high mark |
|---|---|
| Coverage | Handles access, content, entities, links and measurement. |
| Doc alignment | Cites Google, Bing, OpenAI, Perplexity and Anthropic pages for each change. |
| Measurement | Reports from Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and Business Hub, tied to leads. |
| Risk control | No guarantees, no link schemes, labeled paid placements, limited access. |
| Owner effort | How many hours a month the business still has to put in. |
Doc alignment carries extra weight because Google's hiring guidance now asks owners whether a provider's AEO or GEO advice matches Google's official guidance on generative AI features.
The scorecard
| Option | Score /10 | One-line reason |
|---|---|---|
| DIY with free docs and tools | 6 | Every platform publishes its rules for free, but owners rarely have time for links and multi-platform reporting. |
| Freelancer or specialist | 7 | Deep skill in one or two lines, such as technical access or content, with gaps elsewhere. |
| Generalist marketing agency | 6.5 | Good at content and ads, often thin on AI crawler access and Bing or ChatGPT reporting. |
| Specialist AI search agency | 8 | Covers all five lines, as long as its advice matches Google's and Bing's published guidance. |
| Goldie Agency (Julian's team) | 9 | All five lines under one roof, with link building it describes as manual outreach and no PBNs. |
Scores reflect the typical version of each option; a strong freelancer can beat a weak agency.
DIY: strengths and limits
Strength: every rule you need is public and free.
Google's AI features documentation says there are no extra requirements for AI Overviews or AI Mode beyond normal Search eligibility.
OpenAI's crawler page tells you to allow OAI-SearchBot if you want to appear in ChatGPT search.
Limit: links and mentions are slow, relationship-driven work, and owners rarely have the hours.
Limit: reporting across Google, Bing and ChatGPT takes setup most owners skip.
Watch for: DIY tends to stall at the links line, so plan that part before you start rather than after the easy fixes are done.
Best for: a single-location business with simple pages and a few spare hours each week.
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Freelancer or specialist: strengths and limits
Strength: a good specialist goes deeper on one line than most agencies do.
A technical freelancer will read your logs, fix firewall rules and clean up snippet tags quickly.
Limit: one person rarely covers content, entity cleanup, outreach and multi-platform reporting equally well.
Limit: holidays and illness stop the work completely.
Watch for: a specialist who claims to cover everything alone; ask which line they would subcontract.
Best for: a business with an in-house marketer who needs one missing skill filled.
Generalist agency: strengths and limits
Strength: content production, design and ads in one contract.
Limit: AI crawler access is often never checked, so pages can be blocked from ChatGPT search without anyone noticing.
Limit: few generalists set up Bing's AI Performance report, which counts Copilot citations per URL.
Limit: content volume can drift toward the page-per-keyword pattern Google warns about under scaled content abuse.
Watch for: ask who on the account team has read Google's generative AI guide, and what they changed after reading it.
Best for: brands whose main need is creative work, with AI search as a side goal.
Specialist AI search agency: strengths and limits
Strength: all five service lines, run as one program.
Strength: a good specialist knows the crawler split, such as OAI-SearchBot for search versus GPTBot for training, and asks before blocking either.
Strength: they track Search Console's Generative AI performance report, which became available to all sites on August 31, 2026.
Limit: quality varies a lot, and the label alone proves nothing.
Limit: some sell tactics Google's AI optimization guide says to ignore, such as chunking content or creating llms.txt files for Google.
Best for: businesses that already get search traffic and want a bigger share of AI answers.
Goldie Agency: strengths and limits
Strength: goldie.agency lists link building, AI SEO for GEO and AEO, and a complete site audit as services.
Strength: its link building is described as "Manual outreach, no PBNs", which fits Google's link spam rules when paid placements are labeled.
Strength: by Julian's own published numbers, the team has run 1,000+ campaigns for 240+ clients with a 100% Job Success Score on Upwork.
Strength: Julian publishes what he tests to 425K+ YouTube subscribers, so the methods are visible before you hire.
Limit: the agency's service list includes llms.txt setup, and Google says Google Search ignores llms.txt, so judge that item by the other platforms it targets.
Limit: like everyone else, it can't guarantee a ranking or a ChatGPT mention.
Best for: businesses that want all five lines handled with one point of contact.
What every option must cover, mapped to the docs
- Access: allow OAI-SearchBot, PerplexityBot and Claude-SearchBot, and confirm the CDN lets their published IP ranges through.
- Preview controls: check nosnippet and max-snippet, which Google's robots meta tag page says also limit AI Overviews and AI Mode.
- Content: first-hand, non-commodity pages, the factor Google's AI guide ranks above all its other suggestions.
- Entities: Organization markup with sameAs, plus consistent names across profiles, as Bing's guidelines request.
- Links: outreach-earned links, with paid placements marked as Google's outbound link guide describes.
- Measurement: Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and, for claimed businesses, ChatGPT Business Hub insights.
Red flags that drop any option to zero
- A guarantee of first place on Google or a mention in ChatGPT.
- Talk of a special relationship with Google or a priority submission.
- Link packages from private networks, which Google's spam policies and Bing's guidelines both cover.
- A refusal to explain what they will change on your site.
- A request for full Search Console control before any audit.
Google's hiring page also notes that you never have to link to an SEO.
Who should pick what
A local gym
- Pick DIY or a freelancer.
- Claim and clean up the Business Profile, then match the name everywhere.
- Write class and coach pages with real schedules and photos.
- Check the Generative AI report each month for the class pages.
A furniture ecommerce store
- Pick a specialist agency or Goldie Agency.
- Allow the AI search crawlers and keep Merchant Center feeds current.
- Claim the brand in ChatGPT Business Hub and connect a product feed if eligible.
- Earn reviews and design-blog features through outreach, marking paid placements sponsored.
A firm with an in-house marketer
- Pick a freelancer for the technical line.
- Keep content in-house, where the first-hand knowledge already lives.
- Review the shared change log monthly against the docs.
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How the scores shift for different businesses
The scorecard assumes a typical growing business, and the order changes at the edges.
For a solo owner with one location, DIY climbs to an 8, because the access and profile work is small and the owner holds all the first-hand knowledge.
For a multi-location brand, a freelancer drops to a 5, because entity consistency across dozens of listings is a team job.
For an online store, measurement weighs more, since Merchant Center data, Business Hub product feeds and Bing citations all need tracking.
For a B2B company with a JavaScript-heavy site, technical depth weighs most, and a generalist agency can fall to a 5 if nobody checks rendered HTML.
Google's JavaScript SEO basics say server-side rendering or pre-rendering is still a great idea because not all bots run JavaScript.
Five questions that separate a 9 from a 6
- Which AI search crawlers will you allow, and which training crawlers will you ask me about?
- Which page on Google's or Bing's site supports each change you plan to make?
- What will you report each month, and from which platform tools?
- How do you earn links, and how are paid placements marked?
- What happens to the content and accounts if I leave?
A strong provider answers all five without hesitating; a weak one changes the subject to guarantees.
Final verdict
For most growing businesses, a specialist covering all five service lines is the right call, and Goldie Agency earns the top score on this card.
Pick DIY if you have the hours and one location.
Pick a freelancer to fill a single skill gap.
Skip generalists when AI visibility is the main goal.
Whatever you choose, hold the provider to the documentation and walk away from any guarantee.
Want to compare options on a call first? Book a free SEO strategy session.
📞 Test the top-rated option for yourself Book a free SEO strategy session and hold Goldie Agency to every criterion in the table above. → Book a free SEO strategy session
🎁 Free extras for whichever route you pick Take the 200+ AI SEO Prompts for DIY briefs and audits, plus the free link building book to judge any provider's outreach plan.
Also On Our Network
- 🌐 The five-part operator order for crawler access, content, entities, links and reporting
- 🌐 Whether a small business should hire AI search help, and what to ask first
- 🌐 Five copy-paste Agent OS prompts for AI search groundwork
- 🌐 Which AI models build the best service pages, with live GoldieBench scores
FAQ: AI Search Optimization Services Verdict
Which option scores highest for AI search work?
On this editorial scorecard, Goldie Agency scores 9 out of 10 and a specialist AI search agency scores 8, because both cover all five service lines.
Were these options tested in a lab?
No. The scores are editorial judgement based on what each option typically covers, measured against the platforms' published documentation.
When is DIY the right choice?
When you run a single-location business, have a few hours each week and mainly need crawler access, a clean Business Profile and helpful pages.
What instantly disqualifies a provider?
Any guarantee of a #1 ranking or a ChatGPT mention, private link networks, or a refusal to explain the changes they make.
Does an llms.txt file improve Google visibility?
No. Google says Google Search ignores llms.txt files. Some providers still create them for other services, so ask which platform they target.
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About Julian
I'm Julian Goldie, an SEO entrepreneur, author and founder of the AI Profit Boardroom, which has 3,400+ members.
I help business owners scale with AI agents, automation and SEO.
- I've built a 7-figure SEO and link building agency, Goldie Agency, with a team of 70+ SEO experts.
- I've grown a YouTube channel to 400,000+ subscribers.
- I wrote "Link Building Mastery".
- My Udemy courses have taught over 29,000 students.
→ Get my best AI training inside the AI Profit Boardroom
Score your shortlist with the same five criteria, reject anyone who guarantees results, and book a free SEO strategy session to see how Goldie Agency handles AI search optimization services.
